Re: He who must not be named (a question)

Toon wrote:
On Tue, 2 Jan 2007 21:47:53 -0600, "The Magic Engineer" <pem &( @
comcastic!> wrote:


"Toon" <toon@xxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:tqtkp2tvl47467cc4ufbo3r9vvojn18mtb@xxxxxxxxxx
On Mon, 1 Jan 2007 20:02:20 -0600, "Mauro" <Spamblock@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote:


"Paul Ciszek" <nospam@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:embqss$mgp$1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

In article <1166613755.745365.89060@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
ngtybtnice <ngtybtnice@xxxxxxx> wrote:
Hubby and I were watching PoA last night on the Family Channel
when he turned to me and asked "Why aren't you supposed to say
Voldemort's name? Why do you have to refer to him as
you-know-who?"

And I honestly didn't have an answer for him.

Could someone give me the reason(s) so I can share them with him?

Even among wizards, some things are just superstition. Dumbledore
thought it was counter-productive, even served Voldemort's
agenda, for people to avoid using his name, and insisted on
bucking social convention
by saying it clearly. Though it would have been even
more effective if everyone went around calling him "Tom Riddle".

BTW, didn't Hermione go with wizarding convention, and was upset
by Harry's free use of the name? I would have thought she would
listen to Dumbledore, AND would be opposed to furthering
superstition anyway.

Have you ever been talking about someone, and then they just show
up? When
that has happened, have you ever heard anyone say, "Speak of the
devil...?"

The way I heard the phrase was, "Speak of the devil and he will
appear." There is an old folk belief that saying someone's name
can actually summon
that person, or specifically mentioning the devil will summon the
devil.

More info can be found at
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/speak-of-the-devil.html
and http://www.answers.com/topic/speak-of-the-devil

Since Voldemort is clearly the bad guy of the series -- the devil
of the series, so to speak -- then people are afraid to speak his
name because they
are afraid that it will make him come to them.

This is also related to the old belief that if you say a name of a
supernatural being three times, you will summon that being. Fairly
famous
examples in film include BeatleJuice and Candyman. And of course,
there's
the legend of Bloody Mary, where if you stand in the dark in front
of a mirror and say her name three times, she is supposed to
appear in the mirror.


So if I keep the room light I can say her name and be fine? What
fi I pronounce it Bluh Day Mare Ree?

Then that's a horse of a different color.
You'd only get part of the specter then, and it will torment you by
hiding one of your dress shoes when you need it most.

A true name in some cultures / stories, I've heard, also has the
effect of giving power to someone who says it, over the person named.
This is an opposite example of what was being asked, but in fantasy
especially, knowing something/someone's true name gave power to
those who knew it, so the creature/person would go out of their
way to hide their actual name.

TME


IE, Rumplestiltskin.

also Earthsea comes to mind


.